Audiotape of session again will be available

Revised December 11, 2000

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 10, 2000

WASHINGTON -- As it did the first time it heard from lawyers for George W. Bush and Al Gore, the Supreme Court will make an audiotape of Monday's question-and-answer session available.

The court's move to allow same-day release of a tape of the Dec. 1 arguments was a first for the court, and an apparent compromise in response to mounting pressure for media access.

The court will give the tape to ABC, which will act as a pool for other media wishing to air it, court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg said Saturday.

ABC, CBS and NBC broke into regular programming to play portions of the Dec. 1 arguments, but each stuck with that 90-minute audiotape for 15 minutes or less. The networks said their local affiliates could choose to stay longer.

CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC and C-SPAN carried audio of the full session as soon as it was made available.

As it also did Dec. 1, the court will make a transcript of the arguments available within hours, and post it on the court Web site.

C-SPAN, CNN and other media unsuccessfully sought to bring cameras to the Dec. 1 session, arguing that the import of the election case justified breaking the court's ban on cameras.

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